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Opposition sit-in in Nouakchott on May 2. Image by Twitter user @ahmedj85.

Suppression of the protests on May 18. Image from the Facebook page of the ‘youth bloc’ – used with permission

A blog post by Ahmed Jedou explains the state of affairs in the country [ar]:

“Today it is obvious that the military look at us as if we are a ball they are playing with. Our war should be for the establishment of a civil state which fights all the remnants of military rule and French guardianship, through a transitional period, which should be lead by civil society forces.”

Photo of a protest held on June 23, 2012. Used with permission from the page “Latest News “ آخر خبرا

Almeen Ould Hamadi, member of the executive office of the National Union of Mauritanian Students, surprised everyone. He revealed that Isselkou Ould Izidbih, the president's chief of staff and the former president of the University of Nouakchott, had offered him a job and money to split the union, under the direct supervision of a former member of the same union, Mr Itwal Omar

But if one is to speak about Mauritania's violation of human rights, then we can definitely not omit slavery. Despite it being abolished by the government since 1981 and considered as a crime in 2007, slavery is still rampant in the country.

On December 10th, Mauritania was elected Vice President of the UN Human Rights Council which outraged various associations and prompted UN Watch to slam that decision. Also, discrimination is a daily fact of life for black Mauritanians.

“It is obscene for the U.N. to use the occasion of Human Rights Day, when we commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to elect the world's worst enabler of slavery to this prestigious post,” said Hillel Neuer, UN Watch executive director. According to a recent report by the Guardian, “up to 800,000 people in a nation of 3.5 million remain chattels,” with power and wealth overwhelmingly concentrated among
lighter-skinned Moors, “leaving slave-descended darker-skinned Moors and black Africans on the edges of society.”

Foreign Interference

Mauritania was once a French colony. Despite its independence in 1960, strong ties still exist between both countries, angering Mauritanians who demand an end to the French guardianship over their country.

The question of French-dependency exists since the advent of colonization and reached its peak during the so-presumed “independence”, since then there has been a generation living on its rewards. [..] It is our duty as the young generation to, at least, discuss and share ideas about the doubtful positioning of the “Old Political Guardians” within the French negotiation with the military junta about the possibilities of keeping the disappeared Aziz on the top of the state or to push forward another accomplice for the looming war in Northern Mali

Poster for February 25th Movement “No to Guardianship” (”Yes to Partnership”) via Ahmed Jedou used with permission